Area dialing device

ABSTRACT

An area dialing device for quickly and accurately determining the area in square yards of carpeting or other types of floor covering required to be cut from conventional width rolls to facilitate calculation of the cost of the floor covering required for a given room or area. The device has a rotatable back plate with area values imposed thereon as well as variable dimensional numbers to be dialed for presenting the sought-after areas in positions to be viewed within apertures formed in a face plate.

O United States Patent [1 1 [111 3, 4, Plurnly Oct. 9, 1973 [5 AREA DIAIQING DEVICE 3,243,110 3/1966 Kaser 235/78 Inventor: George w b Fort o 3,516,602 6/1970 Barron 235/88 Primary Examiner-Stephen .l. Tomsky [73] Assignee: Smith Brothers Properties, Fort Attorney-Wm, T. Woflord et al.

Worth, Tex.

[221 Filed: June 21, 1912 [57] ABSTRACT 1 pp No: 264,734 An area dialing device for quickly and accurately determining the area in square yards of carpeting or other types of floor covering required to be cut from [52] U.S. Cl. 235/88, 235/78 conventional width rolls to facilitate calculation of the [51] Int. Cl G06c 3/00 cost of the floor covering required for a given room or [58] Field of Search 235/88, 78, 116, area. The device has a rotatable back plate with area 235/84; 33/121, 122 values imposed thereon as well as variable dimensional numbers to be dialed for presenting the sought- [56] References Cited after areas in positions to be viewed within apertures UNITED STATES PATENTS formed in a face P 3,231,189 l/ 1966 Barham 235/78 5 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures Fri FT 1 G SETARROWTO I2' WIDE IOO LINEAL FT= 13333 SQYDS FOR DIALED LINEAL FEET vlNCHES READ BELOW 'Z'BA'S'SJ-El-Q-ID-H IOO LINEAL F T= I66 67 SO YDS.

FOR DIALFD LlNEAL FEET INCHES READ BlLOVl 41-34-5678 9'lO-H U LINEAL FEET +INCHES q READ BELOW Patented Oct. 9, 1973 I00 LINEAL FT.= B333 SQ.YDS.

FOR DIALED 5 Sheets-Sheet l I5'WIDE IOO LINEAL FT.= 166.67 SQ. YDS.

FOR DIALED LINEAL FEET r INCHES Patented Oct. 9, 1973 3,764,065

3 S1109 cs-Sheet 1' AREA DIALING DEVICE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an area dialing device which allows one to quickly and accurately determine the area of a variable rectangle having a fixed width and a variable length.

Continuous lengths of a floor covering such as carpeting are manufactured and sold to retailers in a limited number of widths, the most widely used widths for carpeting being l2 feet and I feet. The desired length of carpeting required to cover a floor is cut from the rolls and sold on the basis of cost per square yardage. Dimensional measurements, however generally are made in units of feet and inches and a conversion is necessary in order to determine the area in square yards of the length of the carpeting cut from the standard rolls. The conversion can be done by calculation but this can be time consuming and sometimes inaccurate depending upon the education and experience of the personnel. Thus a need has existed for a device which will allow one to quickly and accurately determine the area of various lengths of floor covering cut from standard width rolls.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the object of my invention to provide such a device and which allows one to dial the desired variable dimension of a rectangle having a fixed dimension to obtain the corresponding rectangular area for the dimension dialed as well as the rectangular areas for the dimension dialed plus fractional increases thereof.

Another object of my invention is to provide a novel area dialing device which spatially separates the areas presented for viewing into a prominently displayable area number representative of the rectangular area for an integer dimension dialed and into a row of area numbers representative of rectangular areas for the integer dimension dialed plus fractional increases thereof. The dimensions to be dialed are in linear feet while the areas of interest are in square yards.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of the preferred embodiment of the area dialing device of the present invention showing assembled face and back plates;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the face plate of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the back plate which is only partially visible in FIG. 1, omitting numerical data not necessary for understanding the invention.

FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 are enlarged fragmentary views of portions of FIG. 3 and showing additional numerical detail.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the drawings, the face plate is identified by reference character 201 while the back plate is identified by reference character 203. A rivet 205 or the like rotatably secures the two plates together whereby in use, the back plate 203 may be rotated about the rivet 205 relative to the face plate 201. The rivet 205 thus forms the axis of rotation.

The area dialing device is constructed to allow one simultaneously to determine the areas in square yards of two rectangles having two different fixed dimensions in units of feet, by dialing one of a plurality of different variable dimensional numbers which also are in units of feet. In the embodiment disclosed, the fixed dimensions are 12 feet and 15 feet which are standard widths of rolls of carpeting or other types of floor covering. The left side of the face plate as illustrated in FIG. 1 is employed to view the sought-after areas for the dialed rectangle having a fixed width or dimension of 12 feet while the right side of the face plate is employed to while the right side of the face plate is employed to view the sought-after areas of the dialed rectangle having a fixed width or dimension of 15 feet.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the face plate has an aligning means comprising a pointer 207 and an opening 209 formed in the outer periphery of the face plate at a distance defined as R1 from the axis 205. Also formed in the face plate are four apertures 211, 213, 215, and 217. Apertures 211 and 213 are provided for viewing the areas of the variable rectangle having a fixed width of 15 feet while apertures 215 and 217 are provided for viewing the areas of the variable rectangle having a fixed width of 12 feet. Aperture 211 is located at a distance defined as R2 from the axis 205 while aperture 215 is located at a distance defined as R3 from the axis 205. The distance R2 is less than R1 while R3 is less than either of R1 or R2. Apertures 211 and 215 are located at equal angles 6 from and on opposite sides of a line extending from the opening 209 to the axis 205. As illustrated, apertures 213 and 217 are elongated apertures extending radially outward from opposite sides of the axis 205 and their closest ends are located at a distance R4 from the axis. They are located at equal angles (I) from and on opposite sides of the line extending from the opening 209 to the axis 205. In the embodiment disclosed, 0 is equal to l4.4 while (I) is equal to The dimensional numbers to be dialed are imposed on the back plate in a circular pattern at spaced angular positions about the axis 205 and are illustrated at 1-50 in FIG. 3 next to the outer periphery of the circular back plate 203. The units of these numbers are in feet. The radial distance of these dimensional numbers from the axis 205 is equal to R1. Dialing ofa selected dimensional number is accomplished by rotating the back plate to align with or place below the opening 209 for viewing therewithin, the selected dimensional number. For example, in FIG. 1, the dimensional number 24 is illustrated as being within the opening 209 and aligned with the pointer 207.

For each dimensional number, there are two sets of area numbers imposed on the back for viewing within the apertures 211, 213, and 215, 217 when the desired dimensional number is dialed. One set represents areas of the variable rectangle having a 15 foot width while the other set represents areas for the variable rectangle having a 12 foot width. Each set is spatially separated into a prominently displayable number and into a row of area numbers.

For example, referring to FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 6 consider the dimensional number 24 (arrow A). It has one set of area numbers which includes the prominently displayable number 40.00 (arrow B) and the radially extending row of area number 40.14 41.53 (arrow C). The other set for the dimensional number 24 includes the prominently displayable number 32.00 (arrow D) and the radially extending row of numbers 32.11 33.22 (arrow E). In FIG. 1, these area numbers are illustrated within the apertures 211, 213, 215, and 217.

The number 40.00 represents the area in square yards of the 15 foot width rectangle for the whole number 24 dialed as its length in feet. The associated row of area numbers 40.14 41.53 represent the areas in square yards of rectangles having a width of 15 feet and a length of 24 feet plus fractional increases thereof in units of inches. For example, the number 40.14 of the above row represents the area in square yards of the 15 foot width rectangle having a length of 24 feet and 1 Thus the prominently displayable area number of each set may be defined as a function of a given dimensional number while its associated row of area numbers may be defined as a function of the same dimensional number plus fractional increases thereof.

The prominently displayable area numbers 40.00 and 32.00 are located at equal angles from and on opposite sides of a line extending from the dimensional number 24 to the axis 205. The distance from number 40.00 to the axis 205 is equal to R2 while the distance from the number 32.00 to the axis 205 is equal to R3. Moreover, the row of area numbers 40.14 41.53 and the row of area numbers 32.11 32.22 are located at equal angles 0 from and on opposite sides of the same line extending from the dimensional number 24 to the axis 205. These two rows have their closest ends located at a distance R4 from the axis 205 and in addition have lengths corresponding to the length of the radially extending apertures 213 and 217 respectively. Thus when the dimensional number 24 is dialed, the prominently displayable area number 40.00 and its associated row of area numbers will be presented for viewing within the apertures 211 and 213 respectively while the prominently displayable area number 32.00'and its associated row of area numbers will be presented simultaneously for viewing within the apertures 215 and 217 respectively. This is clearly illustrated in FIG. 1.

As a further example, and referring to FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 6 considerthe dimensional number 25 (arrow F). The two sets of area numbers for this number include the prominently displayable area number 41.67 (arrow G) and the row of area numbers 41.81 43.19 (arrow H) as one set and the prominently displayable area number 33.33 (arrow .1) and the row of area numbers 34.44 34.56 (arrow K) as the other set. Numbers 41.67 and 33.33 are located at 0 (14.4) from each side of the dimensional number 25 with the number 41.67 being located at R2 from the axis 205 and the number 33.33 being located at R3 from the axis 205. The row of area numbers 41.81 43.19 and the row of area numbers 33.44 34.56 are located at (90) from the dimensional number 25, on each side thereof.

Thus, the arrangement of the circles and rows of numbers on the back plate 203 which allow one to obtain the desired readings comprises three circles having a radius of R1, R2, and R3. The dimensional numbers to be dialed are located in the circle of radius R1 to facilitate dialing. The prominently displayable area numbers associated with the rectangle having a foot width are located in the circle of radius R2 while the prominently displayable area numbers associated with the rectangle having a 12 foot width are located in the circle of radius R3. For a given dimensional number, its two prominently displayable numbers for each set, are located in the two circles of radius of R2 andvR3, at angular positions 14.4 on each side of the dimensional number while its two radially extending rows of area numbers of each set are located at angular positions on each side thereof. This arrangement and angular relationship allows the area numbers of two sets to be displayed simultaneously within apertures 211, 213, 215, and 217 when a given dimensional number is dialed.

The area numbers in the circles of radius R2 and R3 are a function of the integer value of the dimensional numbers to be dialed and are the most widely used area numbers. Thus they are set off from their associated rows for separate display within apertures 211 and 215 to facilitate reading thereof by the operator.

The scales of numbers (+1 +11) above the apertures 213 and 217 are representative of fractional increases, in inches, of the dimensional number dialed and are provided to aid and facilitate one in reading the corresponding rectangular areas in the rows which appear below the scales and within the apertures 213 and In each of the three circles, adjacent numbers are spaced 7.2 apart. Moreover, in the three circles, the numbers are radially aligned at intervals of 7.2 thereby providing space between each radial alignment of numbers in the three circles for the placement of the rows of area numbers. Between each radial alignment of numbers in the three circles there are located two adjacent rows of area numbers, one row being the row of area numbers of one set while the other row being the row of area numbers from the other set. Moreover adjacent rows of area numbers have an inverted relationship whereby the numbers of the rows may be easily read from left to right when they are moved below or within the apertures 213 and 217 and when the device is held with the curved end up as shown in FIG. 1. For example the area numbers of the row 32.11 33.22 for the 12 foot width rectangle and which are a function of the 24 foot dimensional number, increase in value from left to right as seen in FIGS. 1 and 3 whereby they may be read when positioned within aperture 217. The numbers of the adjacent row 81.81 83.19 (arrow L) are inverted with respect to row 32.11 33.22 in that they are upside down and increase in value from right to left as seen in FIG. 3. This adjacent row is associated with the 15 foot width rectangle and is a function of the dimensional number 49. It is printed in the manner shown whereby its numbers will be right side up and increase in value from left to right when located within aperture 213, by rotating the dimensional number 49 within the opening 209.

Although not shown, the area dialing device has a second and similar face plate on the opposite side of the back plate 203 and is securely coupled to the face plate 201 by way of rivets 221, 223, 225. The plate 203 is located between the oppositely facing face plates and is connected for rotation therebetween by rivet 205. The opposite side of plate 203 has imposed thereon dimensional numbers 51-100 to be dialed and corresponding sets of area numbers for the 12 and 15 foot rectangles. The arrangement of numbers on the opposite side of plate 203 is similar to that shown for the dimensional numbers 1-50. Thus one side of the back plate 203 is associated with the face plate 201 for dialing and determining the areas of the two 12 and 15 foot width rectangles having variable lengths of from 1-50 feet while its opposite side is associated with the second and opposite face plate for dialing and determining the area of the two 12 and foot width rectangles having variable lengths of from 51-100 feet.

In one embodiment, the diameter of plate 203 is 9 '75 inches; R1 is 4 '6 inches; R2 is 4 5/16 inches; R3 is 4 A: inches; R4 is 1 ")4 inches; and apertures 213 and 217 each have a length of 2 inches.

I claim:

1. A device for dialing the areas of a variable rectangle having a first fixed dimension and a variable second dimension, comprising:

a face plate, and

a back plate underlying said face plate and being rotatable relative to said face plate about an axis,

said back plate having:

a plurality of different angularly spaced dimensional numbers disposed thereon at a first radial distance from said axis and representative of dimensional values to be dialed as the second dimension of said variable rectangle,

a plurality of sets of area numbers disposed on said back plate, each set being spatially separated into a prominently displayable area number and a row of area numbers which are representative of areas of said variable rectangle,

the prominently displayable area number of each set being a function of one of said dimensional numbers and its associated row of area numbers being a function of the same dimensional number plus fractional increases thereof,

the prominently displayable area numbers of each set being angularly spaced from each other at a second radial distance about said axis,

the rows of area numbers of each set being angularly spaced from each other at positions extending radially outward about said axis,

the prominently displayable area number and row of area numbers of each set being disposed on said back plate in a given angular relationship with respect to their functionally dependent dimensional number,

said face plate having:

aligning means to be aligned with said dimensional numbers as said back plate is rotated to different positions,

an aperture located at said second radial distance from said axis for visibly displaying therethrough said prominently displayable area numbers on said back plate as it is rotated to different positions, and

a radially extending aperture for visibly displaying therethrough said rows of area numbers on said back plate as it is rotated to different positions,

said aperture at said second radial distance and said radially extending aperture having the same angular relationship with respect to said aligning means as do each prominently displayable area number and row of area numbers of each set have with respect to their functionally dependent dimensional number whereby the prominently displayable area number and row of area numbers of each set will be simultaneously displayed through said apertures respectively when their functionally dependent dimensional number is aligned with said aligning means.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein:

said aligning means comprises an opening formed in the periphery of said front plate at said first radial distance from said axis to visibly display said dimensional numbers within said opening as said back plate is rotated to different positions.

3. The device of claim 1 for dialing the areas of two variable rectangles having different fixed first dimensions and variable second dimensions, wherein:

said back plate has:

a plurality of second sets of area numbers disposed thereon, each of said second sets being spatially separated into a prominently displayable area number and a row of area numbers which are representative of areas of said second variable rectangle,

the prominently displayable area number of each of said second sets being a function of one of said dimensional numbers and its associated row of area numbers being a function of the same dimensional number plus fractional increases thereof,

the prominently displayable area numbers of each of said second sets being angularly spaced from each other at a third radial distance about said axis,

the rows of area numbers of each of said second sets being angularly spaced from each other at positions extending radially outward about said axis,

the prominently displayable area number and row of area numbers of each of said second sets being disposed on said back plate in a given angular relationship with respect to their functionally dependent dimensional number,

said face plate having:

an aperture located at said third radial distance from said axis for visibly displaying therethrough said prominently displayable area numbers of said second set as said back plate is rotated to different positions, and

a second radially extending aperture for visibly displaying therethrough said rows of area numbers of said second set as said back plate is rotated to different positions,

said aperture at said third radial distance and said second radially extending apertures having the same angular relationship with respect to said aligning means as do each prominently displayable area number and row of area numbers of each of said second sets having with respect to their functionally dependent dimensional number whereby each prominently displayable area number and row of area numbers of each of said second sets will be simultaneously displayed through said apertures at said third radial distance and through said second radially extending aperture respectively when their functionally dependent dimensional number is aligned with said aligning means.

4. The device of claim 3 wherein:

each dimensional number on said back plate has as a function thereof, a prominently displayable area number and a row of area numbers of each set and which are located at positions defined by angles 6 and (b respectively on each side of their functionally dependent dimensional number,

said aligning means comprises an opening formed in the periphery of said front plate at said first radial distance from said axis to visibly display said dimensional numbers within said openings as said back plate is rotated to different positions,

said aperture at said second radial distance and said first radially extending aperture are located on one side of said opening at said angles and 4) respectively with respect to said opening,

said aperture at said third radial distance and said second radially extending aperture are located on the other side of said opening at said angles 0 and d) respectively with respect to said opening,

each of said rows of area numbers of said first set is located adjacent to one of said rows of area numbers of said second set and in an inverted relationsaid prominently displayable numbers and rows of area numbers are representative of area in square yards,

each row of area numbers being a function of a given dimensional number plus fractional increases thereof in units of inches. 

1. A device for dialing the areas of a variable rectangle having a first fixed dimension and a variable second dimension, comprising: a face plate, and a back plate underlying said face plate and being rotatable relative to said face plate about an axis, said back plate having: a plurality of different angularly spaced dimensional numbers disposed thereon at a first radial distance from said axis and representative of dimensional values to be diaLed as the second dimension of said variable rectangle, a plurality of sets of area numbers disposed on said back plate, each set being spatially separated into a prominently displayable area number and a row of area numbers which are representative of areas of said variable rectangle, the prominently displayable area number of each set being a function of one of said dimensional numbers and its associated row of area numbers being a function of the same dimensional number plus fractional increases thereof, the prominently displayable area numbers of each set being angularly spaced from each other at a second radial distance about said axis, the rows of area numbers of each set being angularly spaced from each other at positions extending radially outward about said axis, the prominently displayable area number and row of area numbers of each set being disposed on said back plate in a given angular relationship with respect to their functionally dependent dimensional number, said face plate having: aligning means to be aligned with said dimensional numbers as said back plate is rotated to different positions, an aperture located at said second radial distance from said axis for visibly displaying therethrough said prominently displayable area numbers on said back plate as it is rotated to different positions, and a radially extending aperture for visibly displaying therethrough said rows of area numbers on said back plate as it is rotated to different positions, said aperture at said second radial distance and said radially extending aperture having the same angular relationship with respect to said aligning means as do each prominently displayable area number and row of area numbers of each set have with respect to their functionally dependent dimensional number whereby the prominently displayable area number and row of area numbers of each set will be simultaneously displayed through said apertures respectively when their functionally dependent dimensional number is aligned with said aligning means.
 2. The device of claim 1 wherein: said aligning means comprises an opening formed in the periphery of said front plate at said first radial distance from said axis to visibly display said dimensional numbers within said opening as said back plate is rotated to different positions.
 3. The device of claim 1 for dialing the areas of two variable rectangles having different fixed first dimensions and variable second dimensions, wherein: said back plate has: a plurality of second sets of area numbers disposed thereon, each of said second sets being spatially separated into a prominently displayable area number and a row of area numbers which are representative of areas of said second variable rectangle, the prominently displayable area number of each of said second sets being a function of one of said dimensional numbers and its associated row of area numbers being a function of the same dimensional number plus fractional increases thereof, the prominently displayable area numbers of each of said second sets being angularly spaced from each other at a third radial distance about said axis, the rows of area numbers of each of said second sets being angularly spaced from each other at positions extending radially outward about said axis, the prominently displayable area number and row of area numbers of each of said second sets being disposed on said back plate in a given angular relationship with respect to their functionally dependent dimensional number, said face plate having: an aperture located at said third radial distance from said axis for visibly displaying therethrough said prominently displayable area numbers of said second set as said back plate is rotated to different positions, and a second radially extending aperture for visibly displaying therethrough said rows of area numbers of said second set as said back plate is rotated to different positions, said apertuRe at said third radial distance and said second radially extending apertures having the same angular relationship with respect to said aligning means as do each prominently displayable area number and row of area numbers of each of said second sets have with respect to their functionally dependent dimensional number whereby each prominently displayable area number and row of area numbers of each of said second sets will be simultaneously displayed through said aperture at said third radial distance and through said second radially extending aperture respectively when their functionally dependent dimensional number is aligned with said aligning means.
 4. The device of claim 3 wherein: each dimensional number on said back plate has as a function thereof, a prominently displayable area number and a row of area numbers of each set and which are located at positions defined by angles theta and phi respectively on each side of their functionally dependent dimensional number, said aligning means comprises an opening formed in the periphery of said front plate at said first radial distance from said axis to visibly display said dimensional numbers within said openings as said back plate is rotated to different positions, said aperture at said second radial distance and said first radially extending aperture are located on one side of said opening at said angles theta and phi respectively with respect to said opening, said aperture at said third radial distance and said second radially extending aperture are located on the other side of said opening at said angles theta and phi respectively with respect to said opening, each of said rows of area numbers of said first set is located adjacent to one of said rows of area numbers of said second set and in an inverted relationship whereby said rows of area numbers for a given dimensional number may be read from left to right within said radially extending apertures when said given dimensional number is aligned with said aligning means.
 5. The area dialing device of claim 4 wherein: said dimensional numbers are integer numbers having units of feet, said prominently displayable numbers and rows of area numbers are representative of area in square yards, each row of area numbers being a function of a given dimensional number plus fractional increases thereof in units of inches. 